


they shoot hoofbeasts, don't they?

by badAquatic, orphan_account



Series: Trailerstuck [59]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human/Troll Society, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Chronic Illness, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-04
Updated: 2014-08-04
Packaged: 2018-02-11 18:58:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2079432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badAquatic/pseuds/badAquatic, https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your grandfather taught you several things: how to skin animals and prep them for cooking, how to handle your firearms, and how to keep people out of your face and how to use an anger as cold as your blood. </p><p>Takes place after "kindly stopped for me".</p>
            </blockquote>





	they shoot hoofbeasts, don't they?

**== >Eridan: Construct **

Your grandfather taught you several things: how to skin animals and prep them for cooking, how to handle your firearms, and how to keep people out of your face. Of course a lot of those methods were illegal and not recommended but you still listened to them. Dualscar believed strongly in having a cold anger, an anger that doesn’t burn up like a heated mutantblood’s but lasts into the centuries, unable to and ebb away until it felt sated.

You don’t know the temperature of your anger right now. It may be lukewarm given that you’re not plotting death via ugly ‘accidents’. For now, you’re just sitting in the living room, putting things together from the printouts you found online. It was easier than you thought to locate them, though you wonder what kind of person would compile this information.

 _Some crazy anarchist I bet,_ you consider.

The door opens and Kanaya comes in. “Eridan, do you— _what_ are you doing?” The jadeblood’s eyes almost go up to the top of her forehead with how high they move. She moves over to the dining room table you’ve commandeered for your tasks.

You uncap a jar of grub powder and sprinkle it on the nails, just as the instructions said to. They cautioned that it was the best way to keep them sharp for longer periods of time. “Not much. Keeping myself occupied.”

Kanaya looks at the items you’ve spread on the table. You only have half of your inventory out: PVC pipes, hammers, nails, razor blades, branches, thick wooden dowels, barbed wire, metal bolts, and plenty of glue. “You look like you’re preparing for war.”

You shrug and make sure the nails are evenly coated with the grub powder. You should consider saving some of it since you now have two grubs to take care of.

“Eridan,” says Kanaya, “what’s this about? I’m surprised Sollux isn’t in here yelling at you.”

 

 

You sigh. You wish he was in here yelling at you too. “He’s too worried about Latula to really do much yelling.” you reply. You don’t have to worry about Mituna overhearing because he’s completely absorbed in Blingdom Hearts. Nothing short of a nuclear blast could get him to pay attention, or dinner cooking. “And you know why I’m doing this, Kan. It’s the same reason why everyone’s scared to go outside but they’re buying a lot of stuff from Hive Depot. You must feel it in the air.”

Kanaya nods. “Of course I feel the fear, Eridan, but I don’t know if this is the right action.”

“The _right_ action?” you snort. “Was killing someone’s grandfather the right action? Yeah, none of us liked Grandpa Harley but he was still someone that lived here. Someone the Cherubs murdered. What are we supposed to do? Go to the _police_?”

“If we can.” You give her a skeptical look and she sighs. “This isn’t like Mituna’s videogames. When people talk about ‘defending their homes from intruders’ they mean _killing_ them. There’s no jail or due process with an unruly mob of frightened people. What if we make the mistake of hurting the wrong person?”

“And what if the _right_ person gets the drop on us?” You take a deep breath. “Kan, I don’t want to run around hurting people either but I got three kids to protect. I got nieces and nephews and people I love that I don’t want to see hurt. Kar is right. We all have to stick together on this or we’ll be easily broken apart.”

Kanaya bows her head. “I don’t agree with this but I don’t think you’re going to be talked out of it.” You shake your head. She sighs and turns her attention to the eggs. “How are the eggs doing?”

“Unchanged, far as I can tell.” You’ve wrapped Suxxor in a towel and placed Dmitry in a small container of ice-water like she suggested. “They’re not due to hatch for a while.”

“How did Feferi react to know about having to raise the fuchsiablood separate?”

“Not well.” You shrug. “But what else could she do? At least she has Momeju to raise. We haven’t really agreed on what we’re going to baptize the kids as.” You personally hope Momeju and Dmitry become Alternian Traditionalists like yourself but that’s a high hope with a low probability. “I’m definitely teaching them Old Alternian. The language shouldn’t die out.”

“Karkat told me he’s learning Alternian and _you’re_ helping.” She smiles wryly. “How’s that going?”

“Slow as a slugbeast.” you say in Old Alternian. “The language is easy to learn but Karkat hates memorization and troll terms. Its going to take a while.”

You think Alternian is the easiest language to learn. The vowels are always pronounced the same and the order of subject and predicate are just like in English. Verb conjugation is rather easy.

“How did you master Old Alternian?” you ask Kanaya.

Kanaya shrugs. “My grandmother spoke it at home so I picked it up from her.” She looks at her iHusk. “I should get going to work. Talk to me later, alright?”

“Sure.” You say.

She’s still irritated about what you’re doing but she has other things to do and so do you. You keep working, listening to the door shut as Kanaya goes to work at the tailors. You think they work her too much and tend to slough most of the work on her but she doesn’t see it.

An hour later you check on Suxxor and Dmitry. You empty out Dmitry’s ice water and replace it with a fresh one. You know Dmitry is going to be fine but you’re worried about Suxxor. You weren’t eating well during the beginning of the pregnancy. You tuck Sollux’s shirt tighter around him. Sollux is annoyed that you keep taking his shirts and bite him every time he tries to get it back from the nest. After five bites, he’s given up retrieving anything.

You walk by Sollux’s room and hear him still clicking on his keyboard, like he’s been doing since he came home. You check on Latula, who’s lying in bed. She hasn’t been moving around much since she passed out. Sometimes she’s determined to get out of bed and make dinner and you have to watch her so she doesn’t pass out again. One time she did while the stove was on and almost burnt the trailer down. When you enter the room, she’s sleeping. You shut the door behind you and Latula slowly opens her eyes.

“Eridan?” There are bags under her eyes and blood crusted around her nostrils. Her lips are stained teal from her bleeding gums. She’s lost twenty pounds over the past week.

You pull up a chair next to her bed. “Alright, let’s be honest: everyone knows you’re sick and you won’t go to the doctor.” Latula looks away. “I’m not here to lecture you but I want to know why. And _don’t_ say its because of the money. If its something serious, there are foundations that can help you. Fuck, I’ll get a job working at fucking McDonalds so you can see a doctor.”

Latula looks at you. “Why? I’m just your kismesis’s mother.”

“Exactly.” you say, “I hate Sollux but I don’t want to see him miserable. It eats him up when he can’t help you. So just tell me what’s going on. I won’t interrupt until you’re done. And you don’t have to tell me now. You can wait until you’re ready.”

You sit back in the chair and look at her. Latula silently debates for several minutes and you’re about to give up hope of having this conversation now when she speaks.

“When we first moved to the trailer park, we were in debt from Mituna’s hospital bills.” she begins, “Our insurance was through his job but once they found out he was an addict, they cancelled our policy. So we owed sixteen thousand to the hospital. Terezi and Sollux were both young and Mituna was disabled, so I worked 12 hours a day to pay off the debt, rent, and afford food. Cronus would help me take care of the kids and check on Mituna. It was difficult but—”

She coughs and you hand her the tissue box so she can sop up the bloody phlegm. She inhales wetly and continues.

“For years I worked at M&N. They’re a subdivision of DynamiCHEM that assembles electronic batteries. I worked there for years until I started getting sick. Stomach pains, dizziness…but I ignored it since we couldn’t afford a doctor. Eventually the pains faded but I lost my sense of smell. I was concerned so I went to a clinic. The clinic doctor said that I had toxic levels of cadmium in my system and needed treatment. When I told them about where I worked and under what conditions, they said I needed to talk to my employers…”

She looks down. “I wasn’t the only one who was sick by that point. I had to go to the DynamiCHEM offices and show them the doctor’s report so I could get worker’s comp.” She shuts her eyes. “Before they employed me, they made me sign a contract saying I agreed to work there but buried in the paper was a statement saying I would waive DynamiCHEM of any responsibilities regarding my health, even if their chemicals were linked to my disease. So DynamiCHEM refused to pay out for anyone who was made sick by their factories. If the workers slowed down or failed their quota, they were fired.”

She starts coughing again and this time her blood soaks through the tissue. You grimace but you have a washcloth on hand. Its just like taking care of your grandfather again. She finishes coughing and lies back in bed. You had to prop her up so she wouldn’t start choking in her sleep.

“Did you take the contract to a lawyer or your mother?” You know Redglare was a litigator and had helped the Signless avoid jail time with her manipulation of New Jack’s laws.

Latula shakes her head. “My mother had retired and she…she died the day I found out about DynamiCHEM’s contract. I kept copies of the contract for myself but I could never figure out what to…w-what to _do_. We couldn’t afford lawyer fees so I just kept working. Things…things weren’t as bad for a while. I got used to the pains and not being able to smell. Getting disability for Terezi made things easier and I stopped working 12 hours. I-I knew that…that eventually my kidneys or liver would give out...”

She looks at you, watery eyes full of pain. You touch her hand.

“Latula, what about your fellow workers? Maybe you could pool money for a lawyer?”

Latula shakes her head. “A lot of them got too sick to work so they were laid off and later died. I can’t afford a doctor…can’t afford to fight DynamiCHEM…”

“You can’t give up.”

Latula sighs, “It’ll be easier to—”

“To _die_? You’d rather give up and leave everyone behind than _fight_?” you snarl. Latula flinches and you sigh. “I don’t mean to sound harsh but giving up isn’t…well, its not very _Pyrope_ of you.”

“I-I know, Eridan…”—she sounds so weak—“…I’m just so _tired_ these days…and its _easy_ to forget things…I’m so tired of fighting just to…just to make sure everyone is alright…”

“Are you sure your mother didn’t leave you _anything_?”

Latula pauses. “I…I don’t know. Its hard to remember everything that mother did before she died. I kept all her papers though. I stored them in…in Terezi’s closet? I knew I couldn’t keep them in here because Mituna might mess with it. They’re in several boxes. I-I think she left something for Terezi but…” She squints. “Was it…money? I think so…”

So Redglare did leave Terezi money (if Latula’s current state can be trusted). Still, you can’t believe Redglare would leave Latula twisting in the wind. She had a good relationship with her daughter. “What about the law firm Redglare worked for? Didn’t she have friends there?”

Latula squints, then shakes her head. “I-I wouldn’t know. Maybe. Its…so hard to remember now…”

Latula’s deteriorating health is starting to affect her memory, which means things are advancing. You’ll have to start watching her closely, just like your grandfather.

You take another deep breath and pat her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

Latula looks up at you, exhausted but doesn’t say anything. You fluff her pillow and let her go back to sleep. You go to Sollux’s room to find the yellowblood still at the computer, fingers flying over the keyboard as he codes. Eventually he sits back and rubs his face. You sneak behind him and wrap your arms around his shoulders.

Sollux looks up at you, frowning. “What are you doing, fishstick?”

“You’re working too hard. When was the last time you laid down and went to sleep? If I didn’t see you working, I swore you were back to being a WOS geek.”

“I was never a huge WOS geek.” Sollux rubs his face. “I know I’ve been working more but I just want to get this _done_. I lost some of my progress during one of the brownouts.”

“Brownout?”

“It’s a brownout because the power doesn’t cut power completely off. It just goes down low and then immediately comes back on, but its still a pain in the _ass_.” Sollux growls. “I bet its all this fucking _garbage_ that’s causing problems. There’s so fucking much of it. I’ve called the garbage unions but they’re sitting around with their thumbs up their ass since our ward is at the bottom of the list. Nepeta says the new union leader is a lazy dickwad.”

“ _Sol_ …” You purr and rub against his horns. The yellowblood growls and refuses to yield to nice touches. “You’re going to give yourself an ulcer if you keep stressing over every little thing.”

“I don’t want my kid playing in garbage.”

You roll your eyes. “Sol, we live in the fucking Ninth Ward. They just have to learn to live with the trash. The doctor said the eggs are healthy. What’s to worry about?”

“The future and everything else.”

“You’re determined to be both stubborn _and_ miserable, huh? Hope our kid isn’t too pessimistic to hatch out of the egg.” You say, running your fingers through his hair. “What do you know about worker contracts?”

Sollux frowns. “Why do you want to know about that?”

You grin and move away from him, sitting on his bed. Sollux swivels in the chair to face you. “Its just that Latula told me something _very_ interesting about why she doesn’t want to see a doctor.”

“Spill.” Sollux insists.

“Must I?” You cross your legs. “This is a kismesistude, not matespritship, Captor. If you want something from me, you’re going to sweeten the deal.”

Sollux leans back in the chair. “What do you want, fish stick?”

“Quality time for a start and away from the computer.” You say, rolling out the list of demands you’ve kept in store for such an occasion. “Coconut shrimp when I demand it _and_ you have to go clothes shopping with me for the grubs. And if I buy matching outfits for Suxxor and you, you have to wear them.”

“I’m not dressing in the same clothes as a grub.”

“You will if you want to know what I know, Captor.”

“Why in the fuck do you want us to wear the same _thing_?” There’s a petulant whine to Sollux’s voice he’s trying to hide.

“Because its cute.” And because it would humiliate Sollux.

“Fine.” The misery on Sollux’s face makes your edict something to look forward to once Suxxor hatches. “What did my mother say?”

“Latula says that when she worked at DynamiCHEM, she contracted severe cadmium poisoning, but when she tried to get worker’s comp, the company said that she had signed a contract that waives their responsibility. Redglare had just died when she found out which is why she didn’t pursue it. That and she said you couldn’t afford the legal consolation.”

You had expected Sollux to be outraged but he’s silent, which worries you even more. A quiet Captor is a Captor who’s plotting someone’s death. He folds his fingers into a contemplative steeple and broods.

“Sol?” you ask.

“I always knew it was the job.” Sollux admits. “A lot of trolls are exposed to cadmium since New Jack has no stipulations for troll working conditions. There haven’t been any studies done on the harm cadmium does to _our_ bodies. Same thing with the river and swamp pollution.”

“So there’s nothing we can do?”

“I didn’t say _that._ It’ll take a while but Mom is getting worse. We have to move quickly.”

“Did Redglare have friends in the litigation business that would help us?”

“I wouldn’t know. Any information about that would be in her papers.” He swivels back to the computer. “I need to finish this. Why don’t you talk to Terezi? She was closer to Redglare than I was.”

Typing fills the room and you leave. Sollux has too much on his mind to worry about this. Latula had been doing the occasional shift at DynamiCHEM to make ends meet, but now she won’t be able to work. With Terezi gone the only income will be coming in from Sollux’s freelancing and Mituna’s disability check. The city may help when Dmitry hatches but there’s a lot of paperwork you still have to go through before you start receiving money.

You’re still not sure if it’ll be enough once the rent hike comes. You go into Terezi’s old room. Terezi left her furniture here but cleared out her clothes from the closet and her TV. There’s still a large stack of boxes inside that you haven’t touched. This is going to the grubs’ room in the future but for now you’re keeping the hydroponic garden in here.  

The potted plants are floating in an aquarium, sitting on a table in front of the window. Kanaya and Karkat helped you get the basics of hydroponic garden maintenance. All of you have different growing assignments and for those who don’t have the time or room for gardening are baking or sewing. You chose lettuce and tomatoes since those are the few vegetables you tolerate.

You turn over the leaves to make sure they’re growing alright and you’re not experiencing an infestation. So far they appear normal, albeit a bit smaller than what you’d normally see at the grocery store.

You sit on the bed and look at your palmhusk. Sollux is determined to get you something more modern but for now it’s doing its job. You should talk to Terezi but you want to talk to your moirail.

 

\--caligulasAquarium[CA] began trolling apocalypticAdvocate[AA]! --

 

CA: hey wwhat are you up to

AA: QEAUM UJI IRI

CA: you promised nepeta you wwould practice your english

AA: I HATE ENGLISH. ITS STUPID.

CA: dam you speak like three languages wwhy do you hate english

AA: ONLY SPEAK LANGUAGES BECAUSE MOTHER DID.

AA: 私の母は私がやったよりも多くの言語を話した。彼女は悪魔の惑星上の魔女の最も賢明だった。

CA: you still havve to practice

AA: YOU INTERRUPT PRAYERS.

CA: wwhy wwas your phone on wwhen you wwere prayin

AA: PRAY AT HOME. WHAT DO YOU WANT?

CA: im tryin to learn about redglares business associates from her lawwyer days and see if anyone owwes her a favor

AA: QEOK NIZO USS?

CA: english

AA: I NOT KNOW IN ENGLISH.

CA: “wwhy wwould i knoww that?”

AA: TOO MANY WORDS. ENGLISH IS STUPID.

CA: and you wwould knoww because redglare did evveryone favors she wwas everyones go to for lawyer

CA: you wwouldvve spent more time in jail if not for her

AA: REDGLARE NOT HELP ME OUT OF GOODNESS OF VASCULAR PUMP.

AA: SHE WANTED EVIDENCE AGAINST MOTHER.

CA: to provve she murdered the psionic?

AA: NO. MOTHER HAD FRIENDS IN OTHER COUNTRIES. REDGLARE WANTED KNOW THAT. USE ME AS LEVERAGE.

CA: but for wwhat

AA: MUAU MAUSUR AUL HIMONU ONONEOSAUSOS. QEOK SOLO ZULONS CIJOSAURU?

CA: good point

CA: so you cant tell me anythin about redglare?

AA: WOULD CHECK WITH TEREZI.

CA: alright dam

CA: do you knoww wwhen i can take my vvowws

AA: EAGER TO WORK AGAIN?

CA: i wwant to earn money for my family

AA: MUST BE MENTALLY READY FOR IT. THEN TRAINING.

CA: you already trained me

AA: THEY STILL INSIST YOU LEARN. LIKE OTHER ACOLYTES. TO TEST YOUR DEDICATION.

AA: SHOULD MAKE PLENTY MONEY. HIGHBLOOD WHORES RARE.

CA: true but im wworried about the rent hike

AA: WE WILL SURVIVE. LIKE ALWAYS.

AA: CRUKI ON ZILOS, ERIDAN. US NULELAU, US SAUNJEONU, US LUNUKOCAUM SOLO.

 

\--apocalypticAdvocate[AA] ceased trolling caligulasAquarium[CA]!--

 

You return to the living room. Mituna isn’t there but you hear him clattering in the kitchen. You sit in your nest and debate about which book to read. You have one for nursing training, obtaining your GED, and two for the dedication rituals to Blood and Haze. You should read up about the dedication rituals, or rather, which ones you’re going to enact but the GED is really more important if you want to get your nursing training done. You select that book and contact Terezi.

 

\--caligulasAquarium[CA] began trolling gallowsCalibrator[GC]!--

 

CA: rezi wwhat do you knoww about redglares legal contacts?

GC: WHY DO YOU 4SK?

CA: because it might be the wway to help latula

GC: OH R34LLY NOW

CA: listen this isnt the time for sarcasm

CA: long story short latula is sick from her job at dynamichem but signed a contract so she cant get wworkers comp she kneww your family couldnt afford legal covverage so she just wwaited things out so im trying to figure out wwho in the legal office owwes your grandma a favor

GC: DO3S SH3 KNOW 3X4CTLY WH4TS WRONG?

CA: sevvere cadmium poisoning shes had it for years

GC: SO 1 W4S R1GHT

CA: you kneww about this?

GC: 4 WH1L3 4GO 1 TYP3D MOMS SYMPTOMS 1NTO W3BMD 4ND CORR3L4T3D TH4T W1TH TH3 COND1T1ONS SH3 WORK3D 1N FOR Y34RS 1 H4D 4 HUNCH 1T W4S 4 TYP3 OF 1NDUSTR14L PO1SON1NG

GC: 1 KNOW GR4NDM4 WORK3D 4T B4RR4T F4RR3N & W3BB3R TH3Y SP3C14L1Z3 1N C1V1L D1SPUT3S W1TH NONHUM4N SP3C13S

CA: so they wworked wwith the people wwho got screwwed ovver the most

GC: L4ST T1M3 1 CH3CK3D TH3YR3 ST1LL OP3R4T1NG 1N N3W J4CK C1TY

CA: by the wway did you evver find redglares will cause latula says she left you money

GC: NO 1 H4V3NT GON3 THROUGH GR4NDM4S P4P3RS 1 D1DNT W4NT TO LOS3 4NYTH1NG V4LU4BL3

CA: do you think she couldvve left you money for college?

GC: 1F TH4TS TRU3 TH3N MOM WOULD H4V3 TOLD M3

GC: UNL3SS

GC: 3R1D4N HOW 1S MOM DO1NG? 1 M34N M3NT4LLY

CA: wwell shes sleepy a lot but thats not so bad

GC: 3R1D4N 1 C4N H4NDL3 TH3 TRUTH

CA: okay but its not pretty

CA: shes coughin up blood still i try to get her to eat but she barely does and noww shes forgettin things

GC: SO W3R3 ON 4 T1M3 L1M1T

GC: 3R1D4N 1 N33D YOU TO ST4RT D1CT4T1NG 3V3RYTH1NG MY MOM S4YS 1N

GC: 1N C4S3 H3R M1ND ST4RTS GO1NG

CA: oh jeez rezi

CA: maybe its not that bad shes under a lot of stress

GC: OR TH3 C4DM1UM 1S 34T1NG HOL3S 1N H3R BR41N 4ND SH3 COULD ST4RT R3GR3SS1NG

CA: rezi

GC: 3R1D4N 1V3 B33N T4K1NG C4R3 OF MY F4M1LY S1NC3 1 W4S BL1ND3D

GC: 1M MOR3 TH4N C4P4BL3 TO D34L W1TH UGLY TRUTHS 4ND MY MOTH3R LOS1NG H3R M1ND 1S TH3 UGL13ST ON3 1 C4N CURR3NTLY TH1NK OF BUT 1M NOT GO1NG TO 1GNOR3 1T 4ND 1M NOT GO1NG TO BR34K DOWN 4ND CRY B3C4US3 1 M1GHT LOS3 H3R

GC: TH1S JUST MOT1V4T3S M3 TO M4K3 THOS3 DYN4M1CH3M 4SSHOL3S P4Y FOR T4K1NG 4DV4NT4G3 OF H3R

CA: wwhat can i do?

GC: W3LL YOU C4N ST4RT BY LOOK1NG THROUGH MY GR4NDM4S P4P3RS TO S33 1F 4NYTH1NG US3FUL TURNS UP

CA: okay anything else

GC: C4N YOU LOOK FOR GR4NDM4S DR4GON C4N3? 1T SHOULD B3 1N 4 WOOD BOX W1TH 4LT3RN14N L3TT3RS ON 1T

CA: alright ill look for it too

CA: so are you gonna contact the laww firm and go to law school?

GC: 1 DONT TH1NK 1 C4N GO MOST L4W SCHOOLS DONT L3T YOU WORK WH1L3 YOUR3 1N SCHOOL 1 H4V3 4 F4M1LY 4ND 1TLL B3 4 WH1L3 B3FOR3 1 ST4RT 34RN1NG 3NOUGH MON3Y TO SUPPORT TH3M

CA: maybe you could be a paid employee at a law office and go to school partly youre redglares granddaughter call in some favvors  

GC: 1 DONT W4NT TO CO4ST ON MY GR4NDMOTH3RS R3PUT4T1ON

CA: its not coasting rezi you need the money it doesnt hurt to ask

GC: 1LL TH1NK 4BOUT 1T

CA: alright take care

GC: YOU TOO

 

\--caligulasAquarium[CA] ceased trolling gallowsCalibrator[GA]!--

 

You check on the eggs one more time. They’re unchanged. Mituna still hasn’t returned to the living room, so you turn the TV from Subjug Shore to Lomax Street. You’ve been trying to keep it on only education programs but Mituna or Sollux always change to trashy reality TV, high stakes poker competitions, or start playing violent videogames. It’s a battle to get them to change it back (which devolves into an argument about if there’s conclusive evidence that sound effects unborn grubs).

You sit with your eggs and lovingly stroke your daughters’ shells. You just want the best for them more than anything in the world.

 


End file.
